our little t-bird.

you know that feeling you get once you feel you've mastered something. maybe not mastered...but gotten used to something. you know...when you finally feel comfortable. in your skin. like no matter what gets thrown your way...you'll totally be able to handle it.

i'm there. put a little red circle on the ground...and make me stand on it. cause i'm there.

there is nothing that pratt could do that would throw me. mark it down. december 17th. my dad's birthday of all days.

i can take him anywhere...i really mean anywhere. all alone. which is the hardest for me. because it seems since getting married, i've become more dependent. i have always credited my parents for making me independent. but somewhere in the past 2 years...i've lost that.

at least, i thought i had. but not anymore. there is something so refreshing knowing that i can be a mom...a good mom, i think...all alone. it's not that clint doesn't help. because he does. it's that for so many hours of the day, i'm alone. just me and pratt. and it's nice to know that i'm okay. because for so, so long...what, 3 months now...i haven't been. it's like i was always more comfortable...better...when clint was home. and i needed to get to this place. bad. in a bad, bad way.

on another note. bill and denise gave pratt a gt convertible. it's black and white and makes you want to sing...go grease lightening...

he's finally comfortable holding up his head. so we put him in it. and no surprise...his legs touch the ground. he's not quite sure what to do with it. but he LOVES it. he loves to just sit in it and look around. it's pretty hilarious.

here is the car. it's black and white. and pretty much the coolest car ever.

i'm waiting on the christmas cards. they are supposed to arrive today. more later. i'm headed home for my dad's birthday. i love going home. love it. love it. love it.

3 months

today pratt turns 3 months old. i cannot believe it. i know it's cliche...but it really does seem like just yesterday he was born.

he is 26 inches long which puts him in the 95th percentile. and is basically in 6 to 9 month clothing. weird, i know. he's in it because of the length. not because of his weight. he doesn't fill out the 3 to 6 stuff...but it's too short. again...milkman's baby. that's the only explanation i have. either that...or the genes from uncle doug and uncle jim are stronger than i ever thought possible. i'm sure it will catch up with him soon.

he has gotten the hang of sleeping. he naps throughout the day and then falls asleep around 830. he sleeps till 4 or 5. then gets up to eat and sleeps for another 2 to 3 hours. then he's pretty much up for the day. his naps during the day last from 30 minutes to an hour. he fights sleep like you wouldn't believe. he hates it. clint and i love. again...think milkman.

he weighs around 14 pounds...best i can tell.

he loves his baby einstein playmat. loves mr. star. he loves trying to stand up. he gets sick and tired of us putting him in the same positions. he loves public places with bright lights. he will not sleep if there are any fluorescent lights nearby. instead, he just gazes at them. and mirrors. he loves mirrors. he will find and stare at any tv that's on. and i let him. because i'm a bad mom. he'll be the kid that watches tv...because like my sister (the school teacher) said...kids that don't get to watch tv are weird. that's what she said...not me. i mean, i don't use it as a babysitter or anything...but the kid will be a tv watcher. his mom loves tv. like that's one of the things i'd ask for on a deserted island. a tv, peanut butter, a sudoku puzzle, clint and pratt. those five things.

he's taking four ounces. and pretty much believes he should eat every 2 hours. it's a fight to 3 hours. he's happy. he smiles. he giggles. when you squeeze his legs, he laughs and loses his breath.


it's hard to remember what my life was like before him. i cannot imagine it without him now...and it seems so much better with him in it. not that there aren't hard days. but when he smiles at me...and seems happy...i feel i have a purpose. and it makes me want to do more. be more. be better. be the best parent for him. because he deserves it.


we love you.



here he is today at 3 months.


below are some of my favorite pictures from the day he was born. i came across them recently and i don't think any of them are on here.



look at my face. i feel so sorry for him. he's crying. but there were so many people wanting pictures that i couldn't do anything about it. and i'm pretty drugged here. i'm sad. it shows.




my dad. this is exactly what i see when i close my eyes. his glasses. everything. i love it.




here he is with his greatma. she loved him. she loved him long before he arrived.


happy 3 months little prattatouille. we love you.

dear pratt.

dear pratt,

tonight i was rocking you to sleep. it was just me and you. in your room. i always have a fan on...white noise. you like it. and it's dark. but i always leave the closet light on. because i want my closet light on...so i assume you want yours on. i cannot sleep without a light on...and i never expect you to. i mean, if you can...great. but if not, i totally understand. if i were to get out of the bed without a light on, you can bet your bottle that i'd stand on the bed, and then jump as far as i could. that's of course so that the boogie man under my bed can't grab my ankles.

anyway, i was rocking you. you had finished eating. and you were laying there in my arms. every once in a while, you'd crack open your eyes, look up at me. and i'd smile. when you saw me smile, you'd smile. and then you'd close your eyes again.

about a minute would pass, and you'd do it all over again.

open your eyes. check to make sure i was there. smile. close your eyes.

it reminded me of being kid. laying in my parents bed. i wasn't ever allowed to sleep there. so instead, i'd crawl in and ask my dad to clean out my ears. (yes, meredith...we used q-tips). i'd crawl up there...and he'd clean out my ears. it was so relaxing. i would always act like i had fallen asleep. i would lay there and hope that they would say, "oh look...hannah's asleep. let's leave her here. no sense in waking her."

it never happened. but i'd always crack open an eye just to see if maybe dad had fallen asleep and forgotten to make me get back in my bed.

i didn't put you in your bed until i knew you were asleep. i waited about 10 minutes. you hadn't opened your eyes in the longest time...so i assume you are fast asleep.

i love this time with you. i'm so blessed to be able to be at home with you. we read books. we talk. we go for walks. we do everything together. i've even started napping with you. i always hold you when we nap. i hold you really close to me. your head fits perfectly in the crook of my neck. and you sleep best in my arms.

i love you so much honey. and i wish that you'd stay this age forever. but i'll trust what jarrod wolfe said...and be excited in knowing that it only gets better....

i can't imagine how it would...but we'll see.

fra-geel-ay...must be italian!

dear kerry, mike, sadie, and bella,

thank you so much for the wonderful shirt. dad laughed so hard when he opened it. and mom said that someday i'll understand how funny it is. and she also said something about me getting a bb gun one day!?

i dunno...mom's weird. anyway, thanks for the shirt. i love it!

love, pratt.

first fingernail clipping.

i never thought i'd document things like this...but i'm there. clint is much, much better at these things than me.

"hey...um, mom. what exactly is dad doing to me?"



"come on lady...help me. don't just sit there and take pictures."

and please notice the bottom lip. it gets much more pronounced than this. he started it about a month ago. after the pout, you get a scream.

"seriously? the other hand too? you've got to be kidding me..."



"hugs are much better dad, much better. but just in case you think you'll ever trick me into that again, i'll just keep my fists closed like this..."

christmas card/birth announcement

so, i'm nothing if not a procratinator.

seriously, i'm the worst. in college, i had a huge paper due for trey berry's history class. i was literally making copies about 2 minutes before class started. that's because i was making changes on said paper 20 minutes before class started. and that's because i was writing said paper about a day before it was due. you get the picture...

but i truly believe i do my best work under pressure. clint isn't like this. let's hope that pratt is like him. it's depressing being this way. thanks dad....thanks. between that and these knobby knees of yours...

so today we had a photo shoot. i had a great little outfit for him. washed it. put it on. and what do you know? too small. yes people. yes. it was a 3 to 6 month outfit. and he's too long. the pants looked like clam diggers. and boys shouldn't wear those. i mean, i do know this guy who did one time...but they shouldn't. those are for girls. anyway...here is a sneak peak of pratt's christmas card. him in his capri pants :)

a little girl named hazel.

hi everyone.

my friend emily posted something about this little girl a few days ago. she swallowed a button battery from her parent's dvd remote. emily made the comment that all parents should be careful about taping up the back of remotes for this very reason.

according to hazel's mom, there are thousands of children every year that swallow these batteries, or batteries similar to these.

the blog is www.hazelana.blogspot.com

it's so good. she's just like any other mom...but somehow, word got out about hazel. and people started praying. and she went from having 20 hits a day on the blog to over 1000.

it's nice to be reminded that people are good. that we can come together, without knowing each other...and pray for one another. love one another. it makes me wonder why this world isn't a better place.